Brother Pool Shock
Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida Date: May 30, 1993 Story On May 30, 1993 in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on the day before Memorial Day, Brad Varnum and his wife, Linda, were celebrating their daughter Jillian's first birthday. Their sons, fourteen-year-old Justin and twelve-year-old Jared, had already gone over to the pool area with their thirteen-year-old friend, Neil Mauldin, who lived nearby. "They go to the pool area every day. It's directly across from our house," remembers Brad. The boys were playing catch in the pool until the ball went through the fence. Justin went to get it and when he touched it, he got electrocuted by a faulty-wired lamppost. "We just thought he got hurt," said Neil. Jared ran over to grab Justin, but was also electrocuted. Neil realized what was happening and ran to their house to get Brad and Linda. Neil went into the house and told Brad and Linda that Jared and Justin were being electrocuted. As Neil went home, Brad ran to the pool area and saw the boys stuck to the lamppost. "As a dad, it's like your worst nightmare not knowing who you can help first," he said. He was not able to separate them by touching them because every time he did, it shocked him. So he pulled on Jared's swim trunks and finally got him free. When Brad touched Justin, the shock was a lot stronger. With much effort, he used Justin's swim trunks to yank him off the lamppost. Linda called 911 from the house. "At this point, I wasn't hysterical because I didn't know how serious this was," she explained. Brad checked for a pulse and started CPR on Justin. When Linda ran outside, she could see that Jared was in shock. "Jared had a very horrifying look on his face," she remembered. Within five minutes, Pembroke Pines fire rescue units got to the scene including paramedic Luna Tina. "The moments coming out of Justin were painful," he explained. Paramedic Lieutenant Michael Hole arrived and took charge of the scene. "The thermal injury that the electricity would cause could be from anything from respiratory arrest to cardiac arrest to spinal cord injuries," he said. The boys were taken to Memorial Hospital where emergency physician Dr. Doug Smith took over their care. Jared arrived first with a good heartbeat, good pulse, and was conscious. Justin arrived shortly after and was not breathing. "Justin was essentially dying in front of our eyes," said Dr. Smith. Jared lay in a bed right next to Justin, could hear people talking, and did not know if Justin would make it. "I just didn't think it was fair that he got it so bad, but I didn't," he explained. Dr. Smith told Brad that Jared was starting to respond, but Justin did not respond too well. They explained that he was pretty much out of it. "Electrical injuries are a big mystery, and can vary so widely from person to person," said Dr. Smith. On Memorial Day morning, Justin began to respond and said, "Hey, Dad, it's Memorial Day." Six months have passed since the incident. Jared and Justin's lives are slowly returning. Justin still has nerve damage in his left leg. "Sometimes it's very hard," he admitted. Jared has problems with his vision. "They told me to expect problems, such as running out of breath and pulling muscles," he said. The boys went back to the fire station to thank the firemen for saving their lives. "The firemen just don't get to see the good side of the situations they were involved in. We felt that it was very important to go back and let them know how much they had meant for our boys that night," said Brad. He and Linda are also grateful to Neil when he told him about what had happened. If he tried to help Jared and Justin, he also would have gotten electrocuted and all three would have not survived and gotten out of the pool area. Category:1993 Category:Florida Category:Electrocution